Do you hunt with a .250 Savage?

[1899]

The .250-3000 is one of my favourite "light" chamberings. I've owned several 1899's and a Ruger 77, although I don't have one right now. I've killed Blacktails and Whitetails with this chambering, and have always been happy.

How many of you still hunt with this classic chambering? What loads do you use and what have you harvested?

 

[double gun]

I have a custom Remington model 7 but haven't hunted with it yet. My father has a ruger #1 in it aswell, and while he has hunted with it a few times - he hasn't shot anything with it.

 

[Republic of Alberta]

I'm still going to build one for my son but I am holding off on ordering parts for a little bit. My wife's pregnant and if its going to be another boy I am going to have to order double the parts and build 2 guns for the little buggers.

A girl will get a 243 (because its girly)

 

[Kevan]

I carried an 1899 takedown for many years, took a few deer nothing spectacular and one day I swapped it for something else, can't remember what.
It would not shoot 100 gr. loads because of the slow twist so I was relegated to using 87 gr. bullets in my loads and I wanted a 25 cal that would handle a heavier bullet.
Eventually after a couple 25-06s I ended up with a 257 Roberts and never looked back.
Getting back to the old takedown I let go, the new owner took my 87 gr. handloads deer hunting near 100 Mile House and be darned if he didn't kill the biggest Mule Deer buck I have ever seen in BC..... and to this day he swears by that old "loose as a Goose " 1899 Savage....

 

['Boo]

110 grain Accubond @ 2550 fps

250 Savage flanked by 22-250 and 25 WSSM

My Ruger 77 RSI in 250 Savage and one of 5 mule deer I have shot with the 250 Savage in the last 4 years.

The RSI is also very accurate! It will shoot MOA repeatably and occasionally much better.

 

[ErikT]

I have hunted with both my Savage 99 takedown and my Savage 16 stainless, both in .250, and I love them! The .250 is by far my favourite deer cartridge, though I admit that I've had pretty bad luck the last four years. I usually sit in my tree stand with the bolt action, and then I take the lever out for a walk in the woods. As far as loads go, my bolt action prefers the Sierra 117 grain game king over 35 grains of H414, and my lever prefers the super-short Speer 100 grain Hot-cor (or whatever they call them now) over 37 grains of H414. The Speer is the only 100 grain bullet that my 99 will stabilize reliably with its slow twist rate, but with my Marbles tang sight, I can usually get under 2 moa out past 250 metres, which is my comfort zone. So far, I've only gotten a few whitetails with this chambering, but I plan for a coyote or two this winter or spring if I can make it out to the ranches at calving time. I also wouldn't pass over a black bear if I had either of my .250s in my hand....

 

[9.3mauser]

I took my best buck with one in a K-mauser many years ago, till I let someone talk me out of it. Still kicking myself for letting that one go. That cartridge is the reason I started handloading; I couldn't count on being able to find factory ammo.

IIRC, I was using somewhere between 38-40 gr. of W760 with a 100 gr. Nosler. No chronograph back then, so I don't know what I was getting for speed.

 

[mbogo3]

 

[SuperCub]

Wow! ^

 

[dan belisle]

That RSI is gorgeous. I have two 250's, both Savages. One is an anniversary 110 they did years back, and the other is an original Model 20, very nice little gun. Different twists for different bullet weights. Its a great deer cartridge, good for vermin too with lighter bullets. - dan

 

[BrotherRockeye]

been hunting with my 99a for almost 30 years.
Fast enough for yotes/big enough for deer.
It's the only tang safety 99/1899 I own. (scratch that, I bought a 99c a few days ago)
It's the only tang safety 99/1899 I will always own.
I wanted to be able to stabilize 100gr bullets in the 250-3000 so a compromise was struck...
I suffer the new fangled lawyer switch to get the spin I want...
It wears an old school Burris fixed 6x and is just right
that's her second from the bottom.

 

[mbogo3]

The 99A has a 1-10 twist I believe,not the 1-14" handicap of it's predecessors.Harold

 

[stang]

My Ruger 77 RSI in 250 Savage and one of 5 mule deer I have shot with the 250 Savage in the last 4 years.

The RSI is also very accurate! It will shoot MOA repeatably and occasionally much better.

[/QUOTE]

Still kicking myself that I didn't buy one of those.

 

[Blasty Von Kablasm]

My uncle was kind enough to drop of a 99 in .250-3000. Once to the range and that was it. I think its time to dust it off and give her some day light.

BVK

 

[1899]

Looks like most folks, myself included, use this chambering exclusively for deer. I have an itch to load up some modern pressure loads (for bolt action of course) with premium bullets and use it on larger game - like the cow elk draw I have.

 

[1899]

Which one of you guys scooped the sweet little Model Seven MS in .250 Savage on me???? I called to buy it and was told it is "Alberta bound"!

 

['Boo]

Looks like most folks, myself included, use this chambering exclusively for deer. I have an itch to load up some modern pressure loads (for bolt action of course) with premium bullets and use it on larger game - like the cow elk draw I have.

While I have no doubt that a stout bullet launched from a 250-3000 would kill a moose or elk I personally like to have both an entrance and exit wound to facilitate tracking. While every deer I have shot has resulted in exit wound I question the same performance on say moose hide.

However, with your Airedale helping you track I say you should go for it!

 

[1899]

'Boo - tracking is the last thing I want to have to do! Can you believe my 7mm RM (168gr LRAB) didn't exit the whitetail I shot at 40 yards? The only bone it hit was ribs on the way in. It was a steep 1/4-ing away shot...but still. It did however exit a big bodied mule deer at +300 yards. The close range stuff sure can play havoc on softer bullets...bonded or not.

I am tempted to try the 145gr Barnes LRX as it is designed to open at lower velocity. Hopefully it will open reliably at "regular" velocities. As you know I have soured on the TTSX/TSX, but may give these a try.

 

['Boo]

This is the little buck I shot with my off side last month. The range was measured in feet rather than yards but the 110 grain Accubond performed wonderfully.

This is in direct contrast to my experiences with the 165 grain Accubond out of my 300 WSM. I shot about a half-dozen deer and bear with that load and had more "pancakes" that failed to exit than any load I have ever used. (The 300 WSM problem has now been solved with teh 168 grain E-Tip, but that s another topic)

 

[icedog]

1915 DOM 1899 250-3000 takedown ... very nice shape, but drilled and tapped so not a collector, takedown still tight, action works perfectly, the 1 in 14" twist groups the 90g Sierra HP BT inside of about 2". It gets out infrequently, and only on fine weather deer hunting days, but has yet to make a kill while in my ownership.